_______________________________________________________________________________ =============================================================================== |¯¯¯¯¯|¯¯¯¯¯|¯¯¯¯¯|¯¯¯¯¯|¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯|¯¯¯¯¯|¯¯¯¯¯|¯¯¯¯|¯¯¯¯| |_____|_____|_____|_____| Othello |_____|_____|____|____| |¯¯¯¯¯|¯¯¯¯¯|¯¯¯¯¯|¯¯¯¯¯| Atari 2600 |¯¯¯¯¯|¯¯¯¯¯|¯¯¯¯|¯¯¯¯| |_____|_____|_____|_____| FAQ |_____|_____|____|____| |¯¯¯¯¯|¯¯¯¯¯|¯¯¯¯¯|¯¯¯¯¯| Version 1.00 |¯¯¯¯¯|¯¯¯¯¯|¯¯¯¯|¯¯¯¯| |_____|_____|_____|_____| Mike Truitt |_____|_____|____|____| |¯¯¯¯¯|¯¯¯¯¯|¯¯¯¯¯|¯¯¯¯¯| Sunday, February 29, 2004 |¯¯¯¯¯|¯¯¯¯¯|¯¯¯¯|¯¯¯¯| |_____|_____|_____|_____|_______________________________|_____|_____|____|____| =============================================================================== ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Contents: I About this FAQ I I Version History I I I Game Basics I V Strategy V Notes & Thanks •============================================================================• | I ABOUT THIS FAQ | •============================================================================• _________________ Mission Statement ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ I was looking through a bunch of my older games and was wondering to myself why I didn't write any FAQs for these classics. So I decided to write a guide for one of my favorites. Then I noticed that Atari 2600 was missing guides to many many games, so I have made it my duty to get as many good FAQs out there as I can for this classic, yet overlooked system. ____________ Legal Notice ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• ••••• ••••• ••••• This FAQ is copyrighted information of Mike Truitt. Any ••••• ••••• using of this FAQ without permission granted by the ••••• ••••• author, Mike Truitt, is strictly prohibited. To obtain ••••• ••••• usage of this FAQ, simply send an e-mail to this address ••••• ••••• miketru@earthlink.net . Please include your name, what ••••• ••••• website / publication you are representing, and I will ••••• ••••• surely grant you permission. ••••• ••••• ••••• •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• •============================================================================• | I I VERSION HISTORY | •============================================================================• ____________ Version 1.00 ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ I have got just about all of the FAQ completed. There may be some more updates in the future. _____________ Last Updated: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Sunday, February 29, 2004 •============================================================================• | I I I GAME BASICS | •============================================================================• _________________________ O B J E C T I V E ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Othello is a game of strategy that involves a large amount of logic. You do not need to be quick or agile in any way to be a good Othello player. The objective in Othello is to have as many of your pieces on the board by the end of the game. In order to do this, you must turn your opponents pieces over by having one of your pieces on either side of them. This can be done vertically, horizontally, or diagonally. _____________________________________ M O D E S O F P L A Y ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ •=========================================================================• | Game Mode | Description of the Game | •===========·=============================================================• | Level 01 | This game allows for one player to be playing the game. The | | | difficulty of the game is set to easy. This level is a | | | fairly easy one to beat. | ·-----------·-------------------------------------------------------------· | Level 02 | Like Level 01, this too is a one player game. However the | | | computer is slightly smarter than Level 01. Do not expect | | | to win every time, but it is certainly beatable. | ·-----------·-------------------------------------------------------------· | Level 03 | As the previous two levels are, so is Level 03 a one player | | | game. The computer at this point plays with the skill of an | | | expert player. It will take some time to beat it, even if | | | you are a skilled Othello player. | ·-----------·-------------------------------------------------------------· | Level 04 | This is the mode that you should set it on if you would | | | like to play against one of your friends. This is the only | | | setting for a two player game. | •===========•=============================================================• ______________________ C O N T R O L S ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ •=======================================================================• | Button | Action | •==================·====================================================• | Joystick - Up | Moves the cursor upwards | | Joystick - Right | Moves the cursor right | | Joystick - Down | Moves the cursor down | | Joystick - Left | Moves the cursor left | ·------------------·----------------------------------------------------· | Action Button | Seclects the spot on the board to place your piece | ·------------------·----------------------------------------------------· | Game Select | Toggles the difficulty settings of the game | | Game Reset | Resets the game | ·------------------·------------·---------------------------------------· | Left Difficulty | Position A | Puts the game in a set-up mode where | | | | you can put any pieces anywhere on | | | | board to work out specific strategies | | ·------------·---------------------------------------· | | Position B | Having the switch here sets up the | | | | game for any normal mode of play. | ·------------------·------------·---------------------------------------· | Right Difficulty | Position A | Black player goes first | | | Position B | White player goes first | •==================·============·=======================================• | Note: The official tournament rules of Othello state that the black | | player is always the first to move. The game allows white to go | | first to allow the player to gain a slight advantage when they | | are playing the computer. | •=======================================================================• _______________________________ H O W T O P L A Y ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ _________ The Board ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Here is a basic diagram of what the board looks like. I have added the row numbers and the collumn letters to help identify the squares later on in this FAQ. Note that they are not officiall called that. A B C D E F G H ·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----· (Row 1) | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----· (Row 2) | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----· (Row 3) | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----· (Row 4) | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----· (Row 5) | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----· (Row 6) | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----· (Row 7) | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----· (Row 8) | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----· _________ The Setup ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ To start off you will begin with a square board that has been divided into 64 smaller squares - eight squares by eight squares. There will be four pieces on the board at the start of the game, two white and two black. The pieces are placed in the center of the board with whites being in the bottom left and top right (D5 and E4), while black's pieces will be placed in the top left and bottom right (D4 and E5). ___________ The Playing ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Once the game has begun the black person moves (unless you have it setup where white goes first. Either way. The player MUST capture one of the other player's pieces. Each player will follow the other player in turn. If a person has no legal plays left then their turn is skipped and it is the other players turn. If neither player has a legal move, then the game is over, regardless of how many spots are left. _________ The Moves ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ A player must move his piece to capture at least one of his opponents pieces at all times. They can either do it vertically (White has a piece on A1, Black has a piece on A2, White moves to A3), horizontally (White has a piece on A1, Black on B1, White moves to C1), or diagonally (White has a piece on A1, Black on B2, White moves to C3). It is legal to trap in a whole row or collumn of the opponents pieces in one move (White has a piece on A1, Black on A2 through A7, White moves to A8). ___________ The Scoring ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Each piece on the board that you are showing is worth exactly one point. If your opponents captures one or more of your pieces you will loose the same amount of points as the pieces that they have captured. The winner of Othello is the person who has the most amount of their pieces showing upwards at the end of a legal game... this is not necessarily the person who has the last legal move. •============================================================================• | I V STRATEGY | •============================================================================• ______________ Know the board ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ I will be referring to the board and different squares in the game. Just make sure you know what I am talking about... ·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----· •==================• |XXXXX|ooooo|ooooo|ooooo|ooooo|ooooo|ooooo|XXXXX| | Legend | |XXXXX|ooooo|ooooo|ooooo|ooooo|ooooo|ooooo|XXXXX| •=====·============• ·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----· | XXX | Corners | |ooooo|:::::|.....|.....|.....|.....|:::::|ooooo| ·-----·------------· |ooooo|:::::|.....|.....|.....|.....|:::::|ooooo| | 000 | Edges | ·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----· ·-----·------------· |ooooo|.....| | | | |.....|ooooo| | ... | Pre-Edge | |ooooo|.....| | | | |.....|ooooo| | | Insides | ·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----· ·-----·------------· |ooooo|.....| | | | |.....|ooooo| | ::: | Pre-Edge | |ooooo|.....| | | | |.....|ooooo| | | Corners | ·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----· ·-----·------------· |ooooo|.....| | | | |.....|ooooo| | | Insides | |ooooo|.....| | | | |.....|ooooo| •=====·============• ·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----· |ooooo|.....| | | | |.....|ooooo| |ooooo|.....| | | | |.....|ooooo| ·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----· |ooooo|:::::|.....|.....|.....|.....|:::::|ooooo| |ooooo|:::::|.....|.....|.....|.....|:::::|ooooo| ·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----· |XXXXX|ooooo|ooooo|ooooo|ooooo|ooooo|ooooo|XXXXX| |XXXXX|ooooo|ooooo|ooooo|ooooo|ooooo|ooooo|XXXXX| ·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----·-----· _________________________ O F F E N S I V E ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ______________ Inside is good ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ The inside pieces are greater in number than any other spot in the game. Logically, you will want to have the most center pieces by the end of the game. As far as offensive strategy goes, you can often set yourself up for better things. You can get edges if you are able to sneak a piece in the middle of one of your opponents nearly completed rows or collumns. The person with the most inside pieces will win the game. ________________ Edges are better ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Try to get any of the edge pieces on the board (squares with the number one or eight, or letters A and H). A stronghold on the edges allows a player to control the row or collumn very easily. The person with the most edge pieces will have the most inside pieces. ________________ Corners are best ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Do whatever you can in the game to get control of any of the four corner squares (A1, A8, H1, H8). They are the best squares to have for many reasons. They can attack in any direction without the other player having any defense against them. The person with the most corners will have the most edges, which in turn gives you the most center pieces, which means you win the game. __________________________________ Double Direction Captures are good ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Try to look for spaces on the board that will allow you to capture pieces in two directions. Doing this will allow you to capture a larger amount of pieces in a much shorter amount of time. ____________________________________ Triple Direction Captures are better ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Just like the double direction captures, the triple direction captures will allow you to capture a large amount of your opponents pieces in a very short amount of time. Look hard for these spots, because they will help you out greatly. ___________________________________ Entire Row Captures are even better ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ If you are able to capture an entire row. This is done by having one edge piece and all of the middle pieces are owned by the opponent with the other edge being open. This will get you a ton of points and huge leverage for future moves. ________________ Corners are best ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ You will hear this a lot from me. If you are able to capture multiple corners you will be able to do a double direction capture with each being a row, or near a row; sometimes even a triple. Look for corners! ______________________________________ Edges to get Corners are also the best ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ If you have a lot of edge pieces and no corner piece, you will want to be careful. However, if you are sly you will be able to capture corner pieces with a fair amount of ease. Having edges are the best setup to get corner pieces, so be sure to use them. _________________________ D E F E N S I V E ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ ______________ Inside is good ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ The inside pieces of the board are good to have in the beginning, but there is not much real strategy that you can use after a little bit of the game. They are more of the "pawns" of Othello. ________________ Edges are better ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ If you are able to get ahold of some edge pieces, you will not have to worry so much about being captured, due to the fact that you will only be able to be captured from one direction. You will still need to be careful about what you do, but you can slack a bit. ________________ Corners are best ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ The corners are the Gods of Othello. Once you own a corner piece it is literally impossible for your opponent to take that away from you. Get the corner pieces at all costs. _____________________________ Avoid Pre-Edge Inside Squares ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Pre-Edge Inside Squares are all of the squares that are adjacent to the edge squares. If you place your piece there with the edge piece being unoccupied, you are setting the other player up for capturing and edge piece, which is not a good thing. _____________________________ Avoid Pre-Edge Corner Squares ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Pre-Edge Corner Squares are B2, B7, G2, and G7. If you place your piece there with an unoccupied corner piece it is extremely likely that the corner piece will be taken by your opponent. At all cost avoid placing your pieces here, unless you are very confident in your skills. ___________________ Be mindful of Edges ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ If you happen to capture a lot of edges and there are open corners, be careful. If you are not then you will give up corners sometimes, and you will definately want to make sure that you do not give up any corner pieces. •============================================================================• | V NOTES AND THANKS | •============================================================================• A great deal of gratitude is expressed towards all webmasters on the Internet that spend their priceless time and hard earned money for the sole purpose of allowing people from all different walks of life, come together and discuss and help each other with video games. Without that time and that money, the video game industry would be nowhere near what it is today. Thank You All. •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• ••••• ••••• ••••• This FAQ is copyrighted information of Mike Truitt. Any ••••• ••••• using of this FAQ without permission granted by the ••••• ••••• author, Mike Truitt, is strictly prohibited. To obtain ••••• ••••• usage of this FAQ, simply send an e-mail to this address ••••• ••••• miketru@earthlink.net . Please include your name, what ••••• ••••• website / publication you are representing, and I will ••••• ••••• surely grant you permission. ••••• ••••• ••••• •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• (c) Copyright 2004_Mike Truitt